If FIR is lodged against me, I'll quit: Sibal

Union Minister Kapil Sibal today downplayed the registration of a CBI case against Maharashtra minister Rajendra Darda in coal block allocation case but said he himself would have resigned if any FIR was filed against him.

Union minister Kapil Sibal today downplayed the registration of a CBI case against Maharashtra minister Rajendra Darda in coal block allocation case but said he himself would have resigned if any FIR was filed against him.

"If anybody lodges an FIR against me, I will resign," Sibal told reporters.

He, however, added "what is an FIR...It is the originatiing point, the beginning of an investigation. FIR is not prima facie (evidence of some case). The chargesheet is prima facie...Is this the law in our country that you resign if anybody files an FIR"?

The Union Minister was replying to questions about the case lodged by CBI against the Rajendra Darda.

Sibal also sought to pick holes in the CAG report which has computed alleged undue benefits of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to private companies in coal block allocation, by questioning why the CAG changed its mind after saying that estimates were being employed to project and emphasize a material issue and it should not be construed as a core finding.

He also wondered why the CAG did not call a meeting to discuss the revised draft performance audit report despite a request from the Coal Ministry in March this year.

"We are not making any allegations against the CAG. These are facts. We want him to reflect", he added.

"We have not made any allegations against the CAG or any Constitutional body unlike some of the opposition leaders like Arun Shourie who had dubbed its findings idiotic while George Fernandes had used the word "unethical".

Referring to AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh's charge that CAG Vinod Rai has a political agenda, Sibal said "no such official statement from the party has come".